It all began on the screen of a university hall and, since then, the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) continues to project dreams that come true in national and international cinema. Today, four decades after that moment, the Festival is proud to reach its 40th edition, which it will celebrate from June 6 to 14 with a very special program.
"Forty years is easy to say, but it is not easy to arrive and do it with the growth that the Festival has achieved," said Guillermo Arturo Gómez Mata, president of the Guadalajara International Film Festival Board of Trustees, with emotion. "As you all know, the Mexican Film Festival was born 40 years ago in a complex context for national cinematography, and it contributed a lot and continues to do so for Mexican cinema; later, as time went by, for Ibero-American cinema and, why not, for world cinema.
"We hope that someday the different governments of this country, beyond political party issues, will find in this country the usefulness and value of projects like this one to transform minds, societies and particularly the spirit, which at the end of the day is what distinguishes us, in my opinion, from the animal kingdom," added the president of the FICG Board of Trustees.
Portugal, Guest of Honor
Portugal being the Guest of Honor for the first time at this Festival, the FICG40 will have an exhibition of more than 30 films(Muestra FICG Portugal) ranging from classics of its cinematography to proposals of its most contemporary filmography, including among the directors behind them Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, José Álvaro Morais, Avelina Prat, among others.
Its Iberian essence will blow through to the Festival's Exhibitions and Master Classes, where the first Portuguese stop motion animated film, Os Demónios do Meu Avô (2022), will be screened accompanied by a panel and an exhibition of the characters used for its creation. In addition, João Gonzalez, director of the first Portuguese film nominated for an Oscar (the short Ice Merchants, 2022), will hold a master class.
These activities will be joined by four more exhibitions with a Mexican and even Spanish essence: "KATHARSIS! Imágenes de la lucha libre en México, 1940-2007," presented in collaboration with Fundación Televisa, will cover the history of this sport in our country, honoring its aesthetic and cultural richness; "Las hijas del jazz," which comes to Guadalajara with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), will recall the women who managed to break with the traditional role assigned to them socially; "Cuarenta y contando" will bring together key moments in the history of FICG; and "Honestly, Denisse Guerrero" will show an honest and sensitive side of the Belanova singer from her vision of fashion, music and pop culture.
Also joining the Master Class program will be personalities such as cinematographer Enrique Chediak(A Minecraft Movie, 2025) and this year's honorees.
Dolores Heredia will receive FICG's highest recognition for her career, the Silver Mayahuel Tribute, for her 40-year career as an actress and producer, which will be captured in a book that she will present to the film-loving public. Also receiving awards will be producer Mónica Lozano (Mayahuel Industria FICG Tribute), Chilean actress Daniela Vega (Maguey Queer Icon Award) and Denisse Guerrero (Maguey Trajectory Award).
"This year, the Festival has decided to honor four outstanding women, not for their gender, but for their career, for the mark they have left on the industry, for their journey in film. Each of these awards contains a story of courage, passion and dedication to art. As the rector has said, it has always been a time for women and we can see this in the selection made by FICG," said Daniela Yoffe Zonana, general coordinator of Cultural Extension and Dissemination at the University of Guadalajara, on behalf of Karla Alejandrina Planter Pérez, general rector of the University of Guadalajara.
New section
The Guadalajara International Film Festival premieres a new section under the name of Genre Cinema, which will seek to provide a space for films whose languages and aesthetics are based on horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Thus, FICG will have 10 competitive sections, in which 114 films will participate out of the total selection of 170 films in this edition, including feature films and short films.
Last year, the Guadalajara International Film Festival celebrated its 39th edition with great success, consolidating its position as one of the most relevant platforms for the film industry in Ibero-America. With an overall attendance of 94,004 people, FICG reaffirmed its cultural, social and media impact.
There were 39,773 attendees at screenings, 32,536 visitors to exhibitions and 11,955 people at social events. The Festival offered 281 screenings, showing 197 films, 111 in competition (62 feature films and 49 short films) and 86 (75 feature films and 11 short films) out of competition. It also brought cinema closer to the general public with 22 open-air screenings and 28 screens in different parts of the city.
Inauguration and Benefit Galas
This great film festival will kick off with the screening of I am Frankelda (2025) by brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz. The first Mexican film made entirely with the stop motion technique will follow the character already known from the streaming series Sustos ocultos de Frankelda (2021), in a story in which she will have to reestablish the balance between fiction and reality.
"I know this is very easy to say because a couple of years ago we saw Pinocchio, but in Mexico there had never before been a feature-length animated film made in stop motion technique. So, to inaugurate the Festival with this film is a source of great pride for us," said Estrella Araiza Briseño, general director of the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Other premieres, scheduled as part of the Benefit Galas, will be 8 (2025) by Julio Medem; the documentary Mollusk by Mauricio Bidault, about the graphic artist Jis; and the documentary The Fantasy Diedwhich looks at Denisse Guerrero's personal journey to recover her narrative. More screenings will be announced soon.
The associations that will benefit on this occasion are: Asilo San Vicente de Atotonilco el Alto A.C., FM4 Paso Libre, Onco & Vita A.C., Sueños y Esperanzas A.C., Trasplantados en el Hospital Civil Fray Antonio Alcalde A.C., Una Oportunidad de Vida A.C. and Vamos Guerreros A.C.
"I like to say that the Benefit Galas are the heart of the Guadalajara International Film Festival in two senses: the heart because, to a large extent, they are the epicenter of the Festival, it is where the red carpets take place, it is where the talent that brings us to the Festival attends.
It is also the heart because it is where the altruistic sense, the social sense of FICG beats," reflected Omar Avilés González, executive director of the University of Guadalajara Foundation.
Industry and Market
In this 40th edition, Industria y Mercado continues to position itself as an essential engine for the development of Ibero-American cinema with the 23rd edition of the Co-Production Meeting, a point of convergence for projects seeking to grow with strategic allies; Guadalajara Construye, with its valuable work in progress that offers a unique window to films in the post-production stage; and Episodio Cero, which opens the way for series in their initial stages, exploring new forms of storytelling from television and platforms.
And also Pitch Guadalajara, which expands in each of its variants: Schools, fostering emerging talent; Genre, promoting horror, science fiction and fantasy; and Editorial, encouraging the adaptation of literary works to film.
Of course, the second edition of FICGames, the youngest program of Industria y Mercado, will be celebrated with special affection, consolidating itself as the narrative bridge between audiovisual and video games, opening new possibilities for creation, dialogue and the future of interactive narratives in the region.
Official image of FICG40
The figure of the centaur graces the fourth decade of FICG as a reminder of the nature of cinema: a fusion of diverse elements, sometimes marvelous, sometimes chaotic, in the words of tapatío cartoonist José Ignacio Solórzano "Jis".
The graphic artist created "spontaneously" the image of this edition and his hand was in charge of giving it company with more drawings that can be seen in different graphic elements of the Festival, such as the FICG Minute, produced by Cebolla Films, under the direction of Samuel Kishi and Edgar Amor, which turns the official image into a film.
Enjoy the 40th edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival!
#ProyectamosLuz
RELEVANT FICG40 EVENTS
- Opening gala with Soy Frankelda by Arturo and Roy Ambriz
- Masterclasses with Dolores Heredia, Mónica Lozano, Daniela Vega and Enrique Chediak
- Presentation of the book of the Mexican film honoree (Dolores Heredia)
- Five exhibitions: "KATHARSIS! Imágenes de la lucha libre en México, 1940-2007", "Las hijas del jazz", "Honestly, Denisse Guerrero", "Forty and Counting" and "Os Demónios do Meu Avô".
- FICG Portugal Showcase
- FICGames Activities: New Narratives
- Series showcase
- Press conference in honor of Daniela Vega (Maguey Queer Icon Award) and Denisse Guerrero (Maguey Lifetime Achievement Award)
PERSONALITIES
Dolores Heredia
Mónica Lozano
Daniela Vega
Denisse Guerrero
Alfonso Arau
Ofelia Medina
Manolo Caro
Pierre Saint Martin
Ilse Salas
Alejandra Márquez Abella
Udi Aloni
Antonia Zegers
Patricia Riggen
Chelsea McMullan
Santiago Maza
Cris Trenas
Anna Terrazas
Esmeralda Pimentel
David Martos
Irene Azuela
Lola Dueñas
Samuel Kishi
João González
Fernando de Fuentes
Jorge Michel Grau
Beto Lopez
Gabriela Sandoval
Regina Solórzano
Johanna Murillo
Ruby Castillo
Philip Tewes
Julio Medem
Leonor Silveira
Enrique Chediak
Michel Franco
Bertha Navarro
Marina Stavenhagen
Eugenio Caballero
Max Zunino
Alberto Montt
Sofia Espinosa
LEAGUE OF MATERIALS: https://vp.eventival.com/ficg/2025/film-catalogue